Its All in a Name
by macolly
Summary: Just musings...


**_Disclaimer: Not Mine._**

**A/N Musings...**

The nuances of the way a person says her name never really struck her as interesting before. But Alex supposed that no one would have ever used as many deviations in her name when they spoke to her. And in reality aside from herself and him no one would have noticed. But in their partnership she knew that there were many unspoken communications between them. And she cherished every single one of them.

When first meeting him he had addressed her as Detective Eames. It was flat sounding, with no hard or soft emphasis on the front; just a droll greeting, nothing given nothing taken. He also used this same method when introducing her to anyone in those fretful first months. "And this is my partner Detective Eames. No emotions emulated. Just another partner to stand by his side. This was the one she hated most, and the one she hadn't heard now in over 5 years thankfully.

A month later she had annoyed him by not understanding the method in which he was interrogating a suspect. A Hard "Eames" followed by "in the hall came". It too was flat but hard. Something in him saw her as someone to be dealt with. Someone he couldn't just brush off. She had fought back and called him on his treatment of her. She insisted that he learn to communicate with her on a verbal basis, so she could then learn from him.

It would be an additional six months later until she saw heard a new evolution of her name. It was a after a particularly hard case, that they had worked on effectively together. He had thrown his pencil at her desk to get her attention and called to her, "Eames I owe you dinner tonight." It sort of just glided off his lips with a light intro. It sounded like the way her past partners addressed her, more personal, like a family member would. It was that greeting that would make her stand by her decision to withdraw her request for a change in partnership.

After that fateful dinner, a true partnership was born, and with this came a whole slew of variations to her name.

A short quick Eames in the interrogation room meant that he wanted her to take over for a minute.

A long drawn out Eames with a drop in timber in his voice was a signal her had figured out an import part of the case and he needed to bounce it off her before telling Deakins.

An Eames the reverse way with a raise to his voice meant that he was trying to apologize to her for something.

A singsong Eames in her cell phone during sleeping hours meant that they had case and not to kill the messenger.

A gruff short Eames was born out of frustration when neither could make any headway on a case. Although aimed at her sometimes it was never meant as verbal ambush. Just pure aggravation of the task at hand.

A higher pitched Eames at a crime scene meant that he had discovered something of importance that CSU missed.

A short harsh whispered Eames was used when trying to alert her to impending danger that may arise if they were surprising a suspect at home.

Every time she heard a new one she subconsciously cataloged it. She took every variation to heart, knowing that in these slight ministrations of his voice he was giving her a piece of himself. And at the time it was the only thing he had to give.

She doesn't remember exactly where they were in her partnership when she heard her first name cross his lips when he addressed her, but she remember the exact moment clearly. It was a bitterly cold day, and she was waiting on the curb for him to pick her up. When she got in, out of a concern he had said. "Alex, you should have waited inside, I would have come in you could have froze."

They had both smiled at each other not aware if the other one had noticed that small change in the dynamic of their partnership. Neither mentioned it, but it was a moment Alex would remember forever, and despite the bitter cold stinging her skin, she had never felt warmer on the inside.

The use of her first name also became subjective to different dialects. Granted he still differed to her last name in most situations, but there were certain more personal connotations in which he used her first name.

There was a cautious "Alex" in the interrogation room when she let the brutality of crimes that a certain "perp" commited to cloud the manner in which she conducted her interviews. Hearing her first name centered her back to the task at hand.

An amused "Alex" when she said something witty, and he bantered back with her.

A harsh Alex on the rare occasion she called him in the off work hours to indicate his presence was needed at work.

There was the weak Alex that greeted her on her cell phone in off hours, when it wasn't a call for a case, but the need for her partnership to console him over something threatening his sanity.

A soothing Alex after she gave birth to her nephew, when he held her and she had felt so empty.

The haunting Alex when he feared for her life after the bullet had hit her and she heard him swallow the breath he was holding and call to her with distress and fret in his voice fill with concern and fear, as he had covered her body with his own to block out anymore enemy fire.

And her very favorite derivative was with such devotion when they had woken up with each other and for the very first time he said her entire name.


End file.
